Do YOU remember Rick Springfield? I do. Oh, do I ever. Not only was I a confirmed General Hospital junkie as a teenager (Noah Drake anyone?), but I would stare at his album cover while listening to him sing, imagining the day we’d meet and he’d fall head over heels in love with me. A little sappy? Yep. A little crazy? Maybe. Way improbable? Definitely. But hey, I was young, and I love the memories.

Though, I was fickle (as most teenagers are) and my crushes changed often. Rick wasn’t my first teenage crush, and he wasn’t my last, but he was probably the one I held onto for the longest. You know, dreamy face, dreamy voice, and being in my favorite soap opera didn’t hurt, either. Pretty much constant exposure and I was hooked.

I *think* my first starstruck love would have to be Shaun Cassidy, and this would have been earlier than my teenage years. And he also sang and acted. 

One day, my mother caught me dramatzing my totally fake, but totally fun wedding to Shaun in my bedroom. I acted out all the parts-Shaun, the preacher, an ex-girlfriend who was trying to stop the wedding, and of course, I played myself. I used different voices for everyone (even me, which is more than a little odd), and I had this major drama happening, with Shaun (but, of course) choosing me over the other girl and professing his deep and abiding love.

Unbeknownst to me, my mother was listening in at the doorway and caught most of the “show.” She, naturally, thought it hysterical (and I’m sure it was), but I remember being embarrassed she’d overheard. That didn’t stop me from redoing the entire ceremony once she went back downstairs! And let me tell you, I had conflict, humor, and romance going on in that make-believe wedding.

After Shaun and before Rick, my memory is hazy about the men I flirted with in my imagination. I know there were others, but I can’t really remember who, so they must not have had a huge impact on me. 

After Rick, I had a brief fling with Andrew McCarthy and then moved on to Rob Lowe, but those didn’t last nearly as long as Rick. In fact, Rob Lowe was probably the last major not-a-real-person-in-my-real-life crush I had as a teenager, and then life took over and well–I grew up, and pretty much forgot about my infatuations. Until recently, that is. 

So why all this reminiscing about teenage heartthrobs? Well, two reasons, actually. I realized that these men were romantic heroes for me before I even knew what that meant (from a writer’s viewpoint, at least). I just thought they were cute…really, really cute. But now, I see it differently (though I still think they’re all really, really cute). 

Obviously, I’ve always had a rich imagination (too rich if you ask certain family members of mine), and these men had me dreaming, fantasizing, and creating stories in my mind about-yep, you guessed it-love. Now, as a romance writer, I think a lot about heroes and the types I want to portray in my books.  

Because if I can’t fall in love with my heroes, I certainly can’t expect that anyone else will. What’s interesting to me is the thought that these early romantic heroes of mine began a process I didn’t even know was happening. Today, I use that same part of my imagination to create stories. And I think that’s pretty cool.

As for the second reason? In February of this year, a girlfriend of mine talked me into seeing Rick Springfiled live in concert. I hadn’t really thought about Rick for years, but he still had a special place in my heart, so I went.

And I loved it. LOVED IT! He’s still dashingly handsome, sexy, and drool-inducing, and hearing him perform songs from my teenage years was almost like stepping back into the past. As I looked around, I saw women and men of all ages dancing, clapping to the music, and singing. He also had a whole bunch of other songs I wasn’t familiar with, but they were still Rick, and I had a fantastic time. And now, this weekend, I’m going to see him perform again. 

This time, I’m a little more caught up on his newer music, so I’m sure it will be even better. I’m positive it will be another incredible experience and I can’t wait. And for a little while, I’ll remember the teenage girl who mooned over his picture in her bedroom while listening to Jessie’s Girl.  

Edit: Unfortunately, because of forces out of my control, I’ve had to cancel out on this trip that’s been planned forever. Huge bummer!

  Even hotter than before!

One of these days, I’ll post about meeting one of my adult heartthrobs, and maybe…just maybe…I’ll post a picture of the two of us. 

Tags: Rick Springfield, Romantic Heroes

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 14th, 2008 at 12:25 am and is filed under Heartthrobs, Heroes, Inspiration, Rick Springfield, Writing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.